Any old timers out there?

[ironsight]

Been think'n about the old times and how things have changed today,
back then:

- Strict school dress codes, in my public high school no less
- Swim class in high school was bare a$$
- Round screen'd black and white Televisions
- TV/radio tube testers at the local drug store
- Back then women wore dresses
- No salted streets in the Winter
- All stores closed on Sunday
- The long gone Selective Service (draft)
- Cars were simple and easy to fix back then, no electronic BS
- Fireworks were legal
- Crime mostly unheard of
- Kids played outside til dark, no Xboxes, cell phones, etc.
- No gigantic shopping malls,
- gasoline, 40 cents/gallon
- Air conditioning considered a luxury
- High school grads had a hi pay manufacturing job just waiting for them
- Kids not shooting other kids, unheard of

Thinking back, life was more lax'd back then. But then again i wouldn't want to be without my PC today!

 

[GKMan]

I often tell folks I wish I was more at the end of my years now.I missed out on housing booms, cheap gas, good music, mom and pop stores, jobs for life.. Heck a lot of the things you listed. Not to mention the early days of detecting.

I just have to make the best of it.

 

[mudpuppy]

Roofing with a hammer instead of a pneumatic nailer...driving screws with a screwdriver instead of a cordless...snowblower? whats that? (Everytime I look at all those screws out on the deck, I think about what a awful job it would have been to drive them all in by hand...(I'm sure I'da nailed them in with a hammer!)

Summer days lasted forever throwing square bales...I remember lots of great things, especially being outside...heck, it was nothing for a kid to ride a Schwinn Typhoon 20 miles down to the river and fish and camp without the folks worrying? Thanks for the memories, Ironsight!
Mud

 

[GeorgeinSC]

I can recall when gasoline was 25 cents a gallon. But I am sure that those old 40's early 50's cars got a lot lower gas mileage than what we get today.

I lived in the country. Had to walk a little over a mile to elementary school. When I was in the 7th and 8th grade in school I would take my dads single shot 16 ga shotgun to school with me so that I could squirrel hunt on the way home. No one worried about a youngster carrying a shotgun.

Try doing that today and you would never get out of jail.

 

[ironsight]

GeorgeinSC,
Yeah, i remember taking my pellet gun to school to go plinking with the guys after school. Must of been in 6th or 7th grade. No one cared back then.
And yep, i also walked a couple miles one way rain, snow, sleet or sunshine to school every day.

Mudpuppy,
You just reminded me of some bike misadventures. Speeding down forest hills and hitting a small tree stump, ended up on my back with my pant let hung up on that stump. Was nothing to ride our bikes 10 or more miles from home.
Or the time a couple buddies and i jury rigged a lawn mower engine on one of those small kiddie tractors. It ran like hell down the street until one time cops gave chase.
All they did was look that contraption over, gave a laugh and said don't drive it on the streets no more. Today if that happened, i'd still be in reform school.

Any of you guys remember forgotten things like the milkman? The diaper pickup man? :shocked, dial telephones with party lines, traveling knife sharpening men, door to door vacuum cleaner salesmen, horse drawn junk pickup carriages traveling down the main roads?
I also remember seeing long gone shanty shacks outside our town which my father at the time said bums lived in.

All gone with the wind!

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Howdy Ironsight--

I guess that I qualify (at least chronologically) as an "old timer". Your post DID put a smile on my face as I recalled being suspended from my Catholic High School for having a "Fad Haircut". Yup 3 days off for having a flat top haircut hahha. We had to wear a suit and tie and the circumference of our cuffs HAD to exceed 12 inches. I remember the priests measuring the cuffs of any suspected offenders. Fireworks were not legal in NY in the 1960's. We had to smuggle them in from Canada. I do remember when gas went up to .40 per gal. I also remember when it was .27 for high test which I needed in my first car - a 1962 Chev., 327 that had the fuel injection removed and was replaced by a Carter AFB 4 brl. Remember the Mom & Pop corner stores? I remember one in particular that always gave Morgan and Peace $'s in change. Ahhh, yes, those were the days. Thanks for the trip down memory lane! Best of luck and...

Happy Hunting!
Blind Squirrel

 

[ironsight]

Hey Blind Squirrel,
don't get me going on Catholic schools. During grade school, i musta been slapped by a ruler a million times by those nasty nuns!
Looking back, those slaps taught me lessons in my early developmental years.
Today, with all this political correctness BS, those nuns would be prosecuted and sent to prison.

And yep, we had to wear uniforms, white shirt, blue tie, etc.

But when i entered a public hi-school, hair not below the ear, belt on pants, etc.
My girlfriend back then got sent home because her skirt was slightly above her knees!

Today, seeing kids going to school, its a free for all. Its no wonder we have all these current juvenile problems.
Absolutely no discipline today in schools.

 

[GeorgeinSC]

To me it appears that us older folks screwed up when we were raising our kids. Not quite sure how we managed to do so but todays parents want the teacher to explain why Little Johnny got such bad grades. We and Our parents sided with the Teachers and asked little Johnny "Why Did You Get Such Bad Grades". "Boy you better start straightening up and flying Right".

If I got on trouble as school I was in as much or more trouble when I got home. There was only one time I questioned a teacher and told her that she was not doing her job. She had failed to keep me informed of one of my Sons conduct. I told her that it was my responsibility to make sure that he understood the consequences of misconduct and that I could not do anything to keep him straight if she did not do her job and keep me informed. She said she didn't have time. I asked her if she wanted to discuss her improper use of her time with me and the principal. She Declined and kept me informed from that time on.

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Ironsight, you are 100% correct. My wife recently retired from a 40 year career in elementary school teaching. The stories that I could tell about the behavior of 3rd graders, most people wouldn't believe. There is little or no consequence for foul language or violent behavior - even directed at teachers. One of my friends, a junior high wood shop teacher was physically assaulted by one of his students. The punishment? He received a 3 day suspension. My friend had broken eye glasses and cuts and bruises on his face. Ahh, but we HAVE to protect the child's self esteem! Things sure have changed, Ironsight, since we had the nuns and priests to gladly dole out the consequences. Now I fear for the future of our country. Best of luck and...

Happy Hunting!
Blind Squirrel

 

[Blind Squirrel]

GeorgeinSC, many parents today believe that "Little Johnny" is an angel and a Mensa candidate and if he doesn't get good grades it has to be the teachers fault. I always told my wife that you can't make a silk purse out of a sou's ear - unless you have a silk pig!

Yes, in our day, it was double jeopardy. For transgressions on school grounds there would be a visit to the principles' office followed by a phone call to home where we could look forward to another round of consequences.

I'll tell you this, George, my wife would have been happy to have you as a parent of one of her students. You handled that situation with your sons' teacher perfectly. Best of luck and...

Happy Hunting!
Blind Squirrel

 

[sparkster]

Mud, you must be about my age, those are the kinds of things I think about.

When I was a kid you could tell where the action was by the bicycles laying in
A pile at someone's house, the park or a vacant lot.

Sparkster

 

[ironsight]

As a kid i can still vaguely remember;
Some steam locomotives were still around as they were being rapidly phased out by the diesels.
All passenger airliners were prop-driven,
Cigarette vending machines,
All gas stations would fill it up and wash the windows too.

 

[Gary Clark]

Thanks for taking me back, to a much less stressful time in our lives. Enjoyed reading Gary

 

[oneguy]

I'm 61 and I guess on the downhill side?

Yeah....the women wore dresses and stockings (man how I miss that!).

Cheapest gas I remember was .26 gal.

In my high school (my graduating class had 12...lol), if you got in BIG trouble you'd get swats with a big heavy paddle with air holes drilled into it for more speed.

During trapping season I'd run my traps on the way to school and skin during 3rd period (auto shop) and haul carcus' to dump during lunch period....lol We also used to get a free day off during hunting season and I talked them into giving me a trapping day instead so I'd combine that with a 4 day Thanksgiving vacation for 5 days total and hike out to a cabin and just trap trap trap all by my lonesome and those 5 days every yr. were definately my favorite every yr.

Camero's, gto's, 409's, road runners, chargers, vettes, shovels, knucks, & pans........

WTF happened....?????

 

[JBM1]

As an Octogenarian I remember those days well. Jerry.

 

[oldknifemaker]

Hi, old knifemaker here. Yes I'm old and yes I make knives. I'm 78 and I remember gasoline at .11 cents a gal and it was red and smelled purty good. Yeah, I miss the "old days" and I am very thankful I was born when I was. In fact earlier would have been better. I like your reminiscing, brings back good memories. Take care. Oldknifemaker

 

[Digger22]

Im 76 years old, so yeah I remember the "good ol days". I think the kids today have a lot more opportunity than we had in the 50's when I was growing up. More chances for a job. The only job I could get when I graduated was the military. I went to school in my later years. There are many opportunities(well paying jobs) now in the plants along the Mississippi River.

 

[steve in so la]

72 here - I remember hand guns for sale under glass in the neighborhood convenience stores, circle K. This was in Tucson, AZ. Also bullets. , gas at 17 cents a gal during gas wars. steve in so la

 

[SirCupajo]

[size=x-large]As much as I loved my younger years I know there will be more in the future that makes me glad I had a chance to see what I did see. [/size]

 

[Southwind]

I grew up in the country, 3 miles from town, and all our neighborhood walked to one place to get on the school bus. Today There are times I can see as many as 4 school busses at one time all in the same neighborhood. They drop off and pick kids up at every other block. Talk about lazy. We had a windmill in the yard that pumped water for our animals. Three channels on TV , 6, 11 & 13, and you had to play with the rabbit ears to get the channels clear.